As you can see in this blog that many people have taken the Tescor Survey for Labor Ready and have failed the personality test, and have been turned away from working a job! The Tescor Survey is a behavioral psychological assessment and integreity test designed to be a pre-employment tool for many types of businesses. I also went to Labor Ready looking for work, whereas I was told to take a Tescor Survey before employment could be offered. I took the survey, which asked about theft, drug use, anger issues, RACE, etc. When I finished, I was told I wasn’t qualified for employment!
I am a very honest person, and answered accordingly, of which I should have had no problems. I am a NY State Licensed Security Guard that has had to pass drug tests and background checks so there should have been nothing negative on my part. One of the Questions that raised a red flag to me was. Have you ever had to physically had to defend your self? These are all yes or no questions. I was honest and said yes!
When I was around 25 years old I was in the small City of Batavia on a pay phone talking with my dad when I was jumped by a gang of teenagers who hit me from behind with a glass bottle to my head. I got away from them and ran to the nearest store to call the cops for help! Labor Ready is suppose to be the leading multinational source of dependable labor for companies in a variety of industries.
I have Used Labor Ready in the past to hire guys for work but after the way I was treated I will no longer do business with a company that treats good hard working Americans that way, when I really needed a job and Labor Ready was a Last resort ditch effort to pay the bills and feed my family and I was turned away because of a silly survey shame on you Labor Ready I hope that this Blog takes a bite out of your bad business Practices! You should really change your way of hiring! When I walk in and see drunks and thugs getting a job before me something is not good with your company!
I went to Labor Ready looking for work, whereas I was told to take a Tescor Survey before employment could be offered. I took the survey, which asked about theft, drug use, anger issues, RACE, etc. When I finished, I was told I wasn’t qualified for employment! I am a very honest person, and answered accordingly, of which I should have had no problems. Nothing negative on my part. When I asked Julie why I was disqualified, she informed me that she didn’t have that info, and that I should contact Tescor. I looked them up on the computer when I got home, called them, and was informed that Julie at Labor Ready lied to me about having this info! The representitive from Tescor (Merchants Information Solutions) told me that Labor Ready “would” have that info, and to contact them back. When I called Labor Ready back, I got the same response from Julie! She said she didn’t have that info. Obviously, someone is lying, and I have a legal right to know why I was disqualified based on my answers!!!
I have worked for L.R. of and on for over ten years so when they started using tescor I was already in the system I failed this test at another agency thier survey asked “If you saw someone steeling on the job would you report it” “If you saw someone doing drugs on the job would you report it” truthfully, I would mind my own business but that answer is wrong.wrong answers to questions like these caused me to fail the survey . And isnt it more like a test. I never heard of failing a survey. These test are unfair and just used to eliminate people so that agencies dont have to spend money giving an interview . I could go on and onabout how bad labor ready is. I came in one morning from a night job and they asked to work another job because they were short of people they took us in the L.R. van I decided to take a nap when I awoke we where crossing a picket line. News cameras, politicans, protesters everywhere. later that night they went to LR to slash tiers and cut brakelines on the van.
This just happened to my brother-in-law. As my sister told it… He was in the office with three Hispanics, all of whom received applications without taking this “survey”. My brother-in-law completed the survey and without any discussion was told he didn’t qualify. This is outrageous, as he has done everything from hands-on construction to running crews or full projects. He may have been “over-qualified” for what they had, but he would have taken any work. He has been unemployed for 2 years and the family needs him to work just as much as an “unskilled” laborer.
i had the same problem ii took the survey and was told i didn’t qualify and was told by the that she didn’t know why the shit is ridicolus i went out to get a hard copy of my resume by the time i came back i was told that guess i gotta be on crank or fighting everyone to get a job i mean 1 question was what did i think my skill level was in a hand to hand fight what the hell does that got to do with getting a job i guess if i had said yeah im going to come to work late show up drunk and high robbed the employer blind and punch the boss in the face i’d be employed go figure its a bunch of bullshit!
I just went to L.R. and was given the same bullshit. I am a very good worker and need a job but for some reason all they want is to hire drunk ass, stoned out of the mind, immigrant prize fighters.This in my opinion is offensive and prejudiced and I think that this test needs to be stopped or L.R. needs to be shut down and investigated or they need to be boycotted until they stop that stupid test.Everyone that has been affected by this and told that L.R. does not know why they were disqualified needs to get together on a class action lawsuit to at least make it so that they have to inform people why they were disqualified to work there when at least half of the questions should have no bearing on qualification for employment.Why do they need to know your skill level in fighting or how many times you have had to defend yourself physically unless they are gonna give you a job as a mma fighter or put you in an underground cock fight.It is one of the biggest loads of bullshit that I have ever been privy to witness.
Get this sraight LABOR READY YOU WILL PUT ME TO WORK OR FACE MY RATH Im getting tired of you hiring a bunch of fkn bums drugies or whatever you clowns hire your so called bullshit survey and a bunch of fkn wetbacks go to work with a spick behind the desk we can start getting rid of these fkers one way or another a bunch of spineless white trash too scared to speak up will not be tolorated much longer so get your fkd up bullshit survey out of the system and hire qualified people who are willing to take huge paycuts just so we can go to work and stop hearing all this bullshit about anybody but spicks and wetbacks are willing to do but nobody else will tus will be youur only warning
My 19 year old son who is very smart and has been looking for a job went to the LR and took this stupid test. First of all we have never been on welfare, got food stamps, or done drugs, and to ask all these to someone who is trying to get an honest job is absurd. He was given questions unrelated to a career and more ludicrous topics then told he failed, but no reason could be given as to why he failed. Told come back in a year and take it again. Why should he have to wait a year, even the DMV gives you a 24 hr retake. These people are jokes, unfair and this test is unfair. When someone is already down on their luck, depressed over being unemployed and then you throw them questions of “how would you handle hand to hand combat” blah blah blah, , , I pray everyday for my son to get a job and succeed and I know he will! I also know it wont break him/us from trying and this TESCOR SURVEY is for clowns! What do they do for people with A.D.D. Dyslexia, Asbergers Synrome, according to the HEPA Federal Laws this type of Labor Temp Service is violating several terms. So I advise anyone else that ends up going to the Labor Ready Service and takes their 73 question to test to make some noise if they also say you failed for no reason.
tescor is seriosly supid. fuck the labour ready .i have worked for them for almost a year .but i was disqualified …im honest and calm person if anyone starts a company without tescor i would move on o it. the cleark said said she wrote the test and failed but she is in laboiour ready…
Today my boyfriend came in and said that he didnt quailfied for labor ready because of a survey. first i could of sworn that a survey was YOUR opinion right? well in this case its not. he was asked the question if someone in the work place tried to fight you would you fight them back? he answered rarely. he failed that SURVEY because he answer that question wrong i guess. what is this? it sounds like a scheme right? something needs to be done about this because people are getting jhiped out of what is rightfully theirs… what i would say is say no to everything no use your common sense… even though you wouldnt let anybody beat you up in the work place and what does fighting have to do with it anyway… what they should be asking is what kind of experience do you have or where do you see yourself in the next five years… they know that they are wrong and god dont like ugly so better believe ya’ll they will get what they are looking for… just keep your heads up and stay focused because when on door close’s another door opens… and most of the time when you get a job from them they are shiity and try to do you wron g in the end. example my mothers boyfriend went through labor ready for a job before they had the “SURVEY” and the job he works at now hes been working at for years and he became the top seller in his job but they rufuse to give him a raise… they wont promote him and barely give him hours, so he’s like what is the point working for them… dont worry the problem will be solved you know why because its them thats making a bad name for themselves… so like i said. keep cool and stay focused. it will come for all of you.. might not be when you want it but it will happen JUST HAVE FAITH… and if you know anybody that needs a job warn them aboiut labor ready so they dont have to go through the same thing…
Peaceful nuclear explosions
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Peaceful nuclear explosions (PNEs) are nuclear explosions conducted for non-military purposes, such as activities related to economic development including the creation of canals. During the 1960s and 1970s, both the United States and the Soviet Union conducted a number of PNEs.
Six of the explosions by the Soviet Union are considered to have been of an applied nature, not just tests.
Subsequently the United States and the Soviet Union halted their programs. Definitions and limits are covered in the Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty of 1976. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty of 1996 prohibits all nuclear explosions, regardless of whether they are for peaceful purposes or not.
Contents [hide]
1 The Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty
2 United States: Operation Plowshare
3 Soviet Union: Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy
4 Other nations
5 Spaceflight Applications
6 See also
7 References
8 External links
[edit]The Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty
In the PNE Treaty the signatories agreed: not to carry out any individual nuclear explosions having a yield exceeding 150 kilotons; not to carry out any group explosion (consisting of a number of individual explosions) having an aggregate yield exceeding 1,500 kilotons; and not to carry out any group explosion having an aggregate yield exceeding 150 kilotons unless the individual explosions in the group could be identified and measured by agreed verification procedures. The parties also reaffirmed their obligations to comply fully with the Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963.
The parties reserve the right to carry out nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes in the territory of another country if requested to do so, but only in full compliance with the yield limitations and other provisions of the PNE Treaty and in accord with the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Articles IV and V of the PNE Treaty set forth the agreed verification arrangements. In addition to the use of national technical means, the Treaty states that information and access to sites of explosions will be provided by each side, and includes a commitment not to interfere with verification means and procedures.
The protocol to the PNE Treaty sets forth the specific agreed arrangements for ensuring that no weapon-related benefits precluded by the Threshold Test Ban Treaty are derived by carrying out a nuclear explosion used for peaceful purposes, including provisions for use of the hydrodynamic yield measurement method, seismic monitoring and on-site inspection.
The agreed statement that accompanies the Treaty specifies that a “peaceful application” of an underground nuclear explosion would not include the developmental testing of any nuclear explosive.
[edit]United States: Operation Plowshare
One of the Chariot schemes involved chaining five thermonuclear devices to create the artificial harbor.
Operation Plowshare was the name of the U.S. program for the development of techniques to use nuclear explosives for peaceful purposes. The name was coined in 1961, taken from Micah 4:3 (“And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more”). Twenty-eight nuclear blasts were detonated between 1961 and 1973.
One of the first U.S. proposals for peaceful nuclear explosions that came close to being carried out was Project Chariot, which would have used several hydrogen bombs to create an artificial harbor at Cape Thompson, Alaska. It was never carried out due to concerns for the native populations and the fact that there was little potential use for the harbor to justify its risk and expense. There was also talk of using nuclear explosions to excavate a second Panama Canal.[1]
The largest excavation experiment took place in 1962 at the Department of Energy’s Nevada Test Site. The Sedan nuclear test carried out as part of Operation Storax displaced 12 million tons of earth, creating the largest man-made crater in the world, generating a large nuclear fallout over Nevada and Utah. Three tests were conducted in order to stimulate natural gas production, but the effort was abandoned as impractical because of cost and radioactive contamination of the gas.[2][3]
There were many negative impacts from Project Plowshare’s 27 nuclear explosions. For example, the Gasbuggy site,[3] located 55 miles east of Farmington, New Mexico, still contains nuclear contamination from a single subsurface blast in 1967.[4] Other consequences included blighted land, relocated communities, tritium-contaminated water, radioactivity, and fallout from debris being hurled high into the atmosphere. These were ignored and downplayed until the program was terminated in 1977, due in large part to public opposition, after $770 million had been spent on the project.[5]
[edit]Soviet Union: Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy
The Soviet Union conducted a much more vigorous program of 239 nuclear tests, some with multiple devices, between 1965 and 1988 under the auspices of Program No. 6 and Program No. 7-Nuclear Explosions for the National Economy. Its aims and results were similar to those of the American effort, with the exception that many of the blasts were considered applications, not tests.[6] The best known of these in the West was the Chagan test in January 1965 as radioactivity from the Chagan test was detected over Japan by both the U.S. and Japan. The United States complained to the Soviets, but the matter was dropped.
In the 1970, the Soviet Union started the “Deep Seismic Sounding” Program, that included the use of peaceful nuclear explosions to create seismic deep profiles. Compared to the usage of conventional explosives or mechanical methods, nuclear explosions allow the collection of longer seismic profiles (up to several thousand kilometers).[7]
There are proponents for continuing the PNE programs in modern Russia. They (e.g. A. Koldobsky) state that the program already paid for itself and saved the USSR billions of rubles and can save even more if continued. They also allege that the PNE is the only feasible way to put out large fountains and fires on natural gas deposits and the safest and most economically viable way to destroy chemical weapons.
Their opponents (include the academician A.V. Yablokov) [8] state that all PNE technologies have non-nuclear alternatives and that many PNEs actually caused nuclear disasters.
Reports on the successful Soviet use of nuclear explosions in extinguishing out-of-control gas well fires were widely cited in United States policy discussions of options for stopping the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[9][10]
[edit]Other nations
This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.
Germany at one time considered manufacturing nuclear explosives for civil engineering purposes. In the early 1970s a feasibility study was conducted for a project to build a canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Qattara Depression in the Western Desert of Egypt using nuclear demolition. This project proposed to use 213 devices, with yields of 1 to 1.5 megatons detonated at depths of 100 to 500 m, to build this canal for the purpose of producing hydroelectric power.
The Smiling Buddha, India’s first explosive nuclear device was described by the Indian Government as a peaceful nuclear explosion.
In Australia proposed blasting was put forward as a way of mining Iron Ore in the Pilbara [11]
[edit]Spaceflight Applications
Nuclear explosions have been studied as a possible method of spacecraft propulsion. The most well known example was Project Orion, which studied the possibility of a spacecraft propelled by the detonation of nuclear devices which it released behind itself.
Another application would be for deflecting or destroying celestial objects like comets, meteors, or asteroids on a collision course with Earth that have the potential for causing destruction.
[edit]See also
Project Gnome
[edit]References
^ “US Congressional Record pg. 25747, 1968-09-05”. Retrieved 2012-01-22.
^ U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Legacy Management: Rulison, Colorado, Site. Fact Sheet [1].
^ a b Peter Metzger (February 22, 1970). Project Gasbuggy And Catch-85*: *That’s krypton-85, one of the radioactive by-products of nuclear explosions that release natural gas Project Gasbuggy and Catch-85 “It’s 95 per cent safe? We worry about the other 5”. New York Times. p. SM14.
^ “DOE Environmental Management (EM) – Gas Buggy Site”. Em.doe.gov. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
^ Benjamin K. Sovacool (2011). Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment of Atomic Energy, World Scientific, pp. 171-172.
^ Nordyke, M. D. (2000-09-01). The Soviet Program for Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Explosions. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. pp. 34–35. DOI:10.2172/793554. Report no.: UCRL-ID-124410 Rev 2. U. S. Department of Energy contract no.: W-7405-Eng48.
^ University of Wyoming: http://w3.uwyo.edu/~seismic/dss/
^ “А. В. ЯБЛОКОВ, “ЯДЕРНАЯ МИФОЛОГИЯ КОНЦА XX ВЕКА””. Biometrica.tomsk.ru. Retrieved 2011-08-13.
^ Broad, William J. (2010-06-02). “Nuclear Option on Gulf Oil Spill? No Way, U.S. Says”. New York Times. Retrieved 2010-06-18.
^ Astrasheuskaya, Nastassia; Judah, Ben; Selyukh, Alina (2010-07-02). “Special Report: Should BP nuke its leaking well?”. Reuters. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
^ Nuclear blasting proposed for Pilbara Iron Ore Project in Industrial Reviews and Mining Year Book, 1970 pp.255-259
[edit]External links
Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission
Video of the 104Kt Sedan PNE as part of Operation Plowshare.
Video of the Soviet Chagan PNE
Video of the Soviet Taiga PNE
On the Soviet nuclear program
On the Soviet program for peaceful uses of nuclear weapons, American Office of Scientific and Technical Information
United States Nuclear Tests, July 1945 through September 1992 (DOE/NV-209 [Rev.14]).
ARMS CONTROL AGREEMENTS,Federation of American Scientists
World Reaction to the Indian Nuclear Tests, Center for Nonproliferation Studies
Nuclear Files.org Treaty between the USA and USSR on underground nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes
Peter Kuran’s “Atomic Journeys” – documentary film includes tests of Peaceful nuclear Explosions.
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Many claim that The Shroud of Turin is Jesus Christ but the Knights Templar claim that this is Jacques de Molay. I myself would like to think that this is Jesus Christ but with my research and understanding of history tend to lead me to believe that this is indeed Jacques de Molay and not Jesus Christ.
Geoffroi de Charny (the French Knight who died at the 1356 battle of Poitiers) and his wife Jeanne de Vergy are the first reliably recorded owners of the Turin Shroud. This Geoffroi participated in a failed crusade under Humbert II of Viennois in the late 1340s.[26] He is sometimes confused with Templar Geoffroi de Charney.[27]
Any discussion of the Shroud of Turin is bound to be controversial. Those who view this sacred and holy relic fall into two camps, those that believe it to be the undisputed earthly evidence of a Christ risen and those who believe it to be a medieval forgery.
It is not the intention of this web site to cast doubt on or support the authenticity of the shroud, but rather to show its possible relationship to the Knights Templar. We receive many letters from angry people who wish to enter into lengthy debates about carbon 14 reliability. We are aware of new evidence that puts the reliability of carbon 14 dating in question, so please refrain from telling us of the findings or directing us to URLs that make the claims.
There are two theories that relate to the Templars having been involved with the Shroud, one, which would support the authenticity of the Shroud and another, which would refute it.
In 1204 the Crusaders sacked the city of Constantinople. Among them were the Knights Templar, whom some scholars contend took the Burial shroud of Jesus from the city. To support this theory, author Ian Wilson who wrote the book “The Shroud of Turin: Burial Cloth Of Jesus?” makes the claim that the head that the Templars were accused of worshipping was none other than that of Jesus. His belief is that the Shroud when folded depicted the head of Christ and was referred to as the “Mandylion.” There is a painted panel at Templecombe in England that shows a bearded head like that, which is depicted on the Mandylion.
In their two books, “The Hiram Key” and “The Second Messiah,” authors Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas paint a contrasting picture to the Mandylion theory. The authors theorize that the image on the Shroud of Turin is in fact that of the last Grand Master of the order, Jacques de Molay, who was tortured some months before his execution in 1307. The image on the shroud certainly does fit the description of de Molay as depicted in medieval wood cuts, a long nose, hair shoulder length and parted in the center, a full beard that forked at its base, not to mention the six-foot frame. De Molay was said to be quite tall.
However, many have criticized the theory on the basis that the Templar rule of order forbade the Templars from growing their hair long. What critics of the theory overlook is that during DeMolay’s seven years in prison it is highly unlikely that he would have been afforded such luxuries as good grooming.
Knight and Lomas claim that the shroud figured in the Templars rituals of figurative resurrection and that DeMolay’s tortured body was wrapped in a shroud, which the Templars kept after his death. Lomas and Knight further believe that lactic acid and blood from DeMolay’s tortured body mixed with frankincense (used to whiten the cloth) etching his image into the shroud.
When the shroud was first put on display in 1357 (50 years after the disbanding of the order) by the family of Geoffrey de Charney who was also burned at the stake with de Molay, the first people viewing the shroud recognized the image to be that of Christ.
The authors theorize that Jacques de Molay may have been tortured in a manner similar to Christ as a mockery. Certainly then, the wounds suffered by de Molay where the same as those of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Today it is commonly believed by many, through carbon dating, that the shroud dates to the late 13th century and not to the date of Christ’s supposed crucifixion. It is interesting that the church revealed these carbon dating results on October 13th, 1989, which is the same day the Templars were arrested by Church and State. According to the authors:
“Carbon dating has conclusively shown that the Shroud of Turin dates from between 1260 and 1380, precisely as we would expect if it were the image of Jacques de Molay. There is no other known theory that fits the scientifically established facts. Through experimentation, we know that the figure on the Shroud was on a soft bed of some kind, which strongly suggests that the victim was not dead and was expected to recover.”
The Second Messiah pg. 161 – Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas
Regardless of whether the findings of Ian Wilson or Knight and Lomas are correct, it is evident that this most holy and venerated relic has found its way into the Templar mythos.
Lynn Picknet and Clive Prince, authors of “Turin Shroud: In Whose Image?” present another theory of interest on the matter. Readers will recognize the authors from the book, “The Templar Revelation.” In the authors’ earlier book the duo claim that Leonardo Da Vinci who created an early photographic technique manufactured the image on the shroud of Turin.
Stephanie Pappas
Live Science
Thu, 05 Apr 2012 17:01 CDT
A hoax or a miracle? The Shroud of Turin has inspired this question for centuries. Now, an art historian says this piece of cloth, said to bear the imprint of the crucified body of Jesus Christ, may be something in between.
According to Thomas de Wesselow, formerly of Cambridge University, the controversial shroud is no medieval forgery, as a 1989 attempt at radiocarbon dating suggests. Nor is the strange outline of the body on the fabric a miracle, de Wesselow writes in his new book, The Sign: The Shroud of Turin and the Secret of the Resurrection (Dutton Adult, 2012). Instead, de Wesselow suggests, the shroud was created by natural chemical processes – and then interpreted by Jesus’ followers as a sign of his resurrection.
“People in the past did not view images as just the mundane things that we see them as today. They were potentially alive. They were seen as sources of power,” de Wesselow told LiveScience. The image of Jesus found on the shroud would have been seen as a “living double,” he said. “It seemed like they had a living double after his death and therefore it was seen as Jesus resurrected.”
Believing the shroud
As de Wesselow is quick to admit, this idea is only a hypothesis. No one has tested whether a decomposing body could leave an imprint on shroud-style cloth like the one seen on the shroud. A 2003 paper published in the journal Melanoidins in Food and Health, however, posited that chemicals from the body could react with carbohydrates on the cloth, resulting in a browning reaction similar to the one seen on baked bread. (De Wesselow said he knows of no plans to conduct an experiment to discover if this idea really works.)
Perhaps more problematic is the authenticity of the shroud itself. Radiocarbon dating conducted in 1988 estimated the shroud to medieval times, between approximately A.D. 1260 and 1390. This is also the same time period when records of the shroud begin to appear, suggesting a forgery.
Critics have charged that the researchers who dated the shroud accidentally chose asample of fabric added to the shroud during repairs in the medieval era, skewing the results. That controversy still rages, but de Wesselow is convinced of the shroud’s authenticity from an art history approach.
“It’s nothing like any other medieval work of art,” de Wesselow said. “There’s just nothing like it.”
Among the anachronisms, de Wesselow said, is the realistic nature of the body outline. No one was painting that realistically in the 14th century, he said. Similarly, the body image is in negative (light areas are dark and vice versa), a style not seen until the advent of photography centuries later, he said.
“From an art historian’s point of view, it’s completely inexplicable as a work of art of this period,” de Wesselow said.
Resurrection: spiritual or physical?
If de Wesselow’s belief in the shroud’s legitimacy is likely to rub skeptics the wrong way, his mundane explanation of how the image of Jesus came to be is likely to ruffle religious feathers. According to de Wesselow, there’s no need to invoke a miracle when simple chemistry could explain the imprint. It’s likely, he says, that Jesus’ female followers returned to his tomb to finish anointing his body for burial three days after his death. When they lifted the shroud to complete their work, they would have seen the outline of the body and interpreted it as a sign of Jesus’ spiritual revival.
From there, de Wesselow suspects, the shroud went on tour around the Holy Land, providing physical proof of the resurrection to Jesus’ followers. When the Bible talks about people meeting Jesus post-resurrection, de Wesselow said, what it really means is that they saw the shroud. He cites the early writings of Saint Paul, which focus on a spiritual resurrection, over the gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, which were written later and invoke physical resurrection.
“The original conception of the resurrection was that Jesus was resurrected in a spiritual body, not in his physical body,” de Wesselow said.
These ideas are already receiving pushback, though de Wesselow says he’s yet to get responses from people who have read his entire book. Noted skeptic Joe Nickell toldMSNBC’s Alan Boyle that de Wesselow’s ideas were “breathtakingly astonishing,” and not in a good way; Nickell has argued on multiple occasions that the shroud’s spotty historical record and too-perfect image strongly suggest a counterfeit.
On the other end of the religious spectrum, former high-school teacher and Catholic religious speaker David Roemer believes in Jesus’ resurrection, but not the shroud’s authenticity. The image is too clear and the markings said to be blood aren’t smeared as they would be if the cloth had covered a corpse, Roemer told LiveScience.
“When you get an image this detailed, it means it was done by some kind of a human being,” Roemer said.
Unlike many “shroudies,” as believers are deprecatingly called, Roemer suspects the shroud was deliberately created by Gnostic sects in the first or second century. A common religious explanation for the markings is that a flash of energy or radiation accompanied Christ’s resurrection, “burning” his image onto the cloth.
If anything is certain about de Wesselow’s hypothesis, it’s that it is not likely to settle the shroud controversy. Scientific examinations of the delicate cloth are few and far between – and so are disinterested parties. Roemer, for example, recently arrived at a scheduled talk at a Catholic church in New York only to find the talk had been canceled when the priest learned of Roemer’s shroud skepticism. (The Catholic Church has no official position on the shroud’s authenticity.)
Meanwhile, de Wesselow said, people who aren’t driven by faith to accept the cloth as real generally don’t care about the shroud at all.
“The intellectual establishment, if you like, is not interested in shroud science,” he said. “It regards it as fringe and it’s not interested.”